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I bought my first PowerMac back in the late 1990s, and never
looked back. Since then, mostly for business purposes, I have
owned Powerbooks, MacBook
Pros, another PowerMac, MacBook Airs, iPods, iPhones, Mighty
Mouses (or is it mice??), Apple TVs, and recently, multiple
iPads.

Employees at the Apple store smile when I walk in, for they must
see that I have “impulse buyer” written all over my face. Several
years back, after one particularly hefty purchase at the store in
D.C., I was even rewarded with one of the black genius bar
t-shirts.

I suppose they felt sorry for me after dropping so much coin, but
with the coveted t-shirt in hand I knew that I had arrived as an
Apple aficionado.

For the most part, my experience with Apple has been wonderful.
The Mac computers are unbeatable, and the iPhone is
a near perfect device (yes, even the iPhone
4).

There is something about the feel and functionality of all the
Apple gadgets that lets me instantly recognize how they will
improve the way I work. That just hasn’t been the case with the
iPad.

First, let me say that I REALLY wanted an iPad before they came
out. When Steve
Jobs demonstrated the svelte slab of computer wizardry during
his keynote speech in January 2010, I couldn’t wait.

Several months later, I was one of the uber-geeks standing
outside the local Best Buy
waiting impatiently for the store to open up. I scored one of the
32GB Wi-Fi models that day and took it home with great
anticipation.

I knew it was going to be technological bliss. After two weeks of
downloading apps, however, I was left with a feeling of emptiness
and loss.

What was it that I was supposed to be able to do with this that I
couldn’t with my iPhone? Oh yes, it’s the screen. Yes the screen.
It’s bigger. Ahh. But does a bigger screen really justify the
expense and hassle of carrying another device?

Well, I could read books with it. Yes, that’s pretty cool, but I
didn’t feel comfortable taking it out on the beach where I do
most of my reading. But it’s a great presentation tool for
business.

Yes, Keynote is pretty cool, but it lacks functionality on the
iPad, and without the adapter and a projector, the screen is just
too small to do anything except a one-on-one briefing.

So, realizing that I purchased the iPad for business, I came to
the conclusion that what I really needed was a Wi-Fi/3G model. I
promptly sold the 32GB Wi-Fi on eBay for a
nice $120 profit and ordered a 32GB Wi-Fi/3G model the same day.
I just knew that the added mobility offered by the 3G service
would really change things and bring me to mobile nirvana. It had
to.

Four weeks later, I was left with the same confused feeling that
I had with the Wi-Fi model. Just why in the hell did I need an
iPad? One week later, I had made another eBay sale, this time
racking up a nice $300 profit. I was done.

It’s been over a year though, and I find myself slipping by the
Apple kiosk at the very same Best Buy where I purchased the first
model, eyeballing the iPad 2.
Sadly, perhaps pathetically, I am seriously thinking about buying
another one. This time, however, I am going in to the
relationship with my eyes wide open.

No more lies, deceptions, or false promises. I think I now know
what the iPad is, at least for me, and what it will eventually
become. In simple terms, it’s an entertainment device, and at
this stage, despite the plethora of productivity apps that have
come out since it was first released, not much more.

It has huge potential as a tool for marketers and sales
professionals, but only in specific circumstances. I will not be
downloading a ton of apps like I do with my iPhone, simply
because the iPad’s killer app isn’t an “app” at all; it’s the
device’s portability and connectivity.

Someday, someone might write applications that will transform the
iPad into a killer business tool. For me, it would be a mobile
version of Adobe’s Creative
Suite but that probably won’t happen soon. Writing a long
business report is out, and creating Keynote presentations on an
iPad from scratch will almost never happen in my world.

As far as Numbers goes, I am sorry but it just can’t compete with
Excel. That said, for now, I think I am okay with the iPad being
a good eReader, a great machine for watching video and sharing
pictures, and a pretty good device for sending and receiving
email, and surfing the web. The remote desktop apps are handy,
and the new Facebook
app looks really cool.

So, in the end, like a parent who becomes disappointed with a
child’s errant behavior, I still think the iPad and I will have a
bright future together, now that we each know what the other can
put into the relationship. If it doesn’t work out, well, there’s
always eBay.